Today is Good Friday and here is my Easter message to Nigerian Christians. Consider the merging of the upper and lower Niger areas as a divine calling that will spark off a renaissance

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Religion holds a lot of sway in Nigeria but how many of the country’s Christians know that the word Niger is contained in the bible? Had this been the case with a European nation, the missionaries would have told us that it is a sign that they are God’s ordained people

[2 Niger is a person in the Book of Acts of The Apostles in the New Testament. He is mentioned in Acts 13:1 as being one of the "prophets and teachers" in the church of Antioch. It reads: “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.”

[3] The nickname Niger is interpreted by some to mean "black", referring to a dark complexion or African descent, since niger is the Latin word for black. Well, as we all know, the word Nigger was used to describe black people during the slave trade and afterwards

[4] As we also know, the River Niger has established itself as an ancestral home of all negros. It was on the banks of the River Niger that the ancient empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai flourished

[5] It is no accident that the country called the Niger Area put together by the British, later called Nigeria, is the largest black nation on earth. Now, this nation is facing arguably its defining moment in history, kind of like the US was after the bombing of Pearl Harbour or the UK was during its Darkest Hour in the Battle of Britain

[6] However, the Niger Area was split into two with the French colonising Niger Republic and the British colonising Nigeria. Kind of similar to how we had Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). These nations should never have been separated by the colonial powers in the first place

[7] Niger Republic’s recent coup provides us with the ideal opportunity to correct the errors of the colonial past by merging Northern Niger Area (Niger Republic) with Niger Area (Nigeria). During the colonial era, we Africans were torn asunder similar to the way the 10 lost tribes of Israel were scattered. It is time to correct this and start the African renaissance that will continue from where Ancient Egypt left off

[8] It is just a shame that West Africa is no longer ruled by pan-Africanists like Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Thomas Sankara, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Sylvanus Olympio, Amilcar Cabral, etc. They would have commenced amalgamation negotiations immediately

[9] At the outset of World War One, the League of Nations handed out all of Germany’s African colonies to the French and British. Togo, Cameroon, Namibia and Tangayika were all placed under the control of new powers. Come to think of it, what stops Ecowas doing likewise and placing Niger Republic under “Nigerian protection” to borrow a phrase from our colonial masters

[10] Niger Republic has a landmass of 1.27m square kilometres while Nigeria has 923,768 square kilometres. Their combined landmass of 2.19m square kilometres will make the country about the same size as Saudi Arabia or Greenland. Given that by 2050, Nigeria will become the third most populous nation on earth behind India and China, this actually has to happen

ayoakinfe@gmail.com